The esteemed scholar Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘If you are tested by acts of disobedience towards Allah, then hasten to repent, ask for His forgiveness and express your regret. Weep for your errors for you do not know how many of them you have.’
Al-Wasiyyah, page 40
An individual enthusiastically informed Arif-billah Dr. Abdul Hayy Arifi (may Allah have mercy on him) that by Allah’s grace he had attained the station of Ihsan. That is, worshipping Allah as though you see Him and if that is not possible then as though He sees you.
Shaykh Arifi (qaddas sirrahu) congratulated and encouraged him. And then inquired that if this ihsan was attained only in prayers (salah) or it was also present at other times, like dealing with house hold members, especially wife.
The individual looked in bewilderment at Shaykh and informed that he thought this ihsan was only meant to be limited to prayers and ritual worship.
Shaykh Arifi explained to the audience in detail that this is a common mistake. We tend to limit deen to formal acts of worship (Ibadaat). Our all other activities seem to be independent of the fact that each and every moment of our life we are as much a slave of Allah as in prayers and other worship.
The genuine ihsan is perpetual. The slave is aware that he is being watched and he will be accountable for whatever he does. Hence, he has utmost respect and does not do any thing inappropriate. Remember this is an intentional and a voluntary act of thinking.
As per instruction of Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mawlana Muhammad Taqi Usmani sahib (Allah SWT preserve him & allow us to benefit from him abundantly. Ameen) setting aside an allocated time every day to think repeatedly that: ‘I am in front Allah SWT & He is watching me’, is essential for achieving it. It becomes a habit in second nature only by doing it repeatedly. Practice makes perfect. Gradually it becomes almost like an instinctive performance, like breathing or drinking.
Wa ma taufiqi ilabillahi!
Orlando, FL
Hakim al-Umma Sahykh Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“Goal and objective are the maqamaat [stations: i.e. acquiring patience (saber), thankfulness (shukur), sincerity (ikhlas), etc. and getting rid of envy, arrogance, anger, etc.] and not the ahwal (temporary overwhelming emotional states).
This is because the former are voluntary (can be acquired by one’s effort) and the latter are involuntary (occur sponateously irrespective of one’s effort).”
Malfuzat
Rockville, MD/Washington DC
In reply to a salik’sletter Hakim al- Umma Shaykh Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote,
‘Hardening of heart (qasawet-e-qalbi)is not to feel any remorse after committing a sin.’
Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 1, page 503
May Allah save us all from this. Amin!
New York, USA
Hakim al-Umma Shaykh Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (may Allah ahve mercy on him) said:
Committing a sin is a very wretched, ghastly and fatal thing.
It is essential to abstain from it completely.
That very moment when a slave in acting against his Lord’s command, is a very ominous and detesting. If he had the capabilities for differentiating between various feelings, he could have felt the darkening effect of sin.
Some wrong actions have the effect of causing the capability of performing good works in future to be taken away. This is a thing to be dreaded.
Another effect of sin is that the individuals under your command start disobeying your instructions.
The worst effect of committing sin is that due to the casual and careless attitude (of a sinner) a minor (saghirah) sin leads to a major (kabirah) sin and eventually to rejecting the truth (kufr).
Thus an individual should never become carefree after committing a sin. He should repent and make amendments.
Basa’ir-e-Hakeemul Ummat 532
A senior disciple wrote,
Frequently a state raptures me on hearing the blessed name of Prophet (Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) or listening to his narrations. Tears flow for a while and it appear that as if the Prophet (Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) is sitting in front of me. This happens both in public and in solitude. On these occasions an unintentional desire to stand arises. However, two thoughts come to mind preventing me to do so. Firstly, in public I fear that people will call me an impostor and it will be damaging for the beliefs (‘aqaid). Secondly, the internal state is as described whereas apparently there is nothing visible. I remain perplexed in this situation. Afterwards I feel a sort of disassociation in remembrance (dhikr) and this makes me anxious. What should I do? Stand up or not?
Hakim al-Umma Shaykh Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) replied,
‘This is a blessed state.
If you can not withstand it, then stand up. However, do not disclose to others why are you standing. This way it would not be detrimental to beliefs (aqaid). If someone insists a lot to know the reason tell him I was feeling anxious. Period.’
Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 2 page 730
Masih al-Quloob Shaykh Masihullah Khan (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
‘As you say Allah o akbar (God is great) when starting the prayers (salah) be certain of your own minuteness and insignificance.’
صلی اللہ علیہ والہ وسلم
Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates,
‘Hadhrat Haji Imdad Ullah mohajir Makki (may Allah sanctify his secret) said,
Apparently my first baya was in Naqshbandi tariqa with Hadhrat Naseer uddin Dehlawi khalifa of Hadhrat Shah Afaq (may Allah have mercy on them). In reality it is without any intermediaries directly with respected Prophet, the Last Messenger (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him).
It was in this manner; I saw Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him) seated in a very prominent place. In his blessed hand was the hand of Hadhrat Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed (may Allah have mercy on him). I was standing with humility in their presence. Hadhrat Sayyid sahib (may Allah have mercy on him) took my hand and placed it in Prophet’s hand (Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him).
Karamat e Imdadiya, page 44
Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mawlana Mohamamd Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) said,
‘Sayidina Umar al-Farooq (may Allah be pleased with him) had himself heard the Prophet (Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) say that, ‘Umar will be in Paradise’.
However, his state was such that he used to ask Sayidina Huzaifa (may Allah be pleased with him) to inform him if his name was amongst the list of hypocrites (munafiqeen) confided to him by the Prophet (Allah’s blessing and peace be upon him) .
Moreover, he told Sayidina Abu Musa al-Ashari (may Allah be pleased with him) that he wished he receives reward only for those actions done within the lifetime of the Prophet and those that were done afterwards are just condoned, without any reward or punishment.
This is the thinking of an individual who has heard the glad tidings of Paradise.
(We must question) Why?
The fact is his concern about himself. That is, certainly at that time the Prophet gave this glad tidings but it is possible that his condition has changed since then. He is afraid of this change.
Why have this fear (of change and deterioration in our state) vanished from ourselves?
Why aren’t we concerned (about the change and deterioration in our state)?
How are we free of this fear and self satisfied on our condition?’
Bayan: 5th February 2009, after ‘asr, Qari Rafiq’s residence, Jeddah.
Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaykh Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (may Allah preserve him) said,
‘In a Prophetic tradition (hadith) it is narrated that; the person whose two days are the same is in big loss.
This means that his today was spent in the same manner as yesterday and no progress occurred.
That is, no progress in being more religious, in spiritual evolution, increase in worship and improvement in obedience, following of Sunna and abundance in Allah’s remembrance.’
Jeddah, 5th February 2009
